Rylands lose out at a very wet Stockton Town

by John Hopkins
WARRINGTON Rylands travelled to a very wet County Durham only to lose 1-3 to a well organised Stockton Town.

Playing without their top goal scorer Ben Hardcastle, Rylands replaced him with his younger brother and team coach, Lewis.
Stockton made their intentions clear from the off when they applied pressure toward the Rylands goal and within minutes had earned themselves a penalty. Up stepped Kevin Hayes to send Luke Pilling the wrong way and to take the lead after just 4 minutes.
This stimulated The Blues (playing in red today) into a fight back which took only 6 minutes to make the scores even. Beating the offside trap Jake Burton slotted a perfect through ball to Harrison Wood who powered the ball past Nathan Harker and into the back of the net.
Another chance came when Alex Kiwomya beat the back row and then rounded the keeper only to see his goal-bound shot cleared off the line.
The remainder of the first half was end-to-end as two good teams battled for control of the match but neither side managed to dominate, but after the break it was a different story.
Jake Burton and Guy Hall were both replaced; Burton through injury and Hall having ‘double vision’ following a clash in the first half. This appeared to unsettle the side and change the dynamics of the squad.
The Anchors began as they did the first half and took the lead within a minute of returning to the 3G pitch when a low shot was deflected in off defender Clive Smith. Their confidence was high and soon they were winning every ball.

Some resolute defending, backed up by some terrific saves, kept Warrington in the match and they also had chances of their own at the other end.
Rylands pushed for the equaliser again and succession of corners rained upon the Stockton goalmouth, but a long clearance caught them high up the pitch and as they raced back into their own half could not stop the third and ‘killer’ goal from Jake Petitjean.
‘Reno’ brought players off the bench and substitute Ryan Tioffo produced a shot that bounced off the post, but as always seems to happen when things are not going your way, it bounced away from goal and not into it.
It was a disappointing result but the home supporters were complimentary of Warrington Rylands, saying that after the first half they classed Rylands as the best side they had faced since playing Rochdale in the FA Cup 6 years ago.
“We now have to lick our wounds and get back at it as we prepare to face the League Leaders Hednesford Town next week” Reynolds said. “We have players coming back to the squad next week; it will be a difficult game – they are all difficult games, and even if we lose the next few games we still have a great group.”